Although there were only a few female rulers in ancient times, there was not only one Wu Zetian as most friends understood.
Female rulers in history, depending on their political status, can be divided into two situations:
The first is that there is no imperial title, but it is at the peak of power, above the nominal ruler. Rulers who conform to this situation are mostly found in successive empresses.
In the second case, there are female rulers with imperial titles, and the question of whether they have actual power or not is not discussed.
In line with the second situation, in addition to Wu Zetian, there was another person, she was the Northern Wei Emperor.
Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei was only five years old when he ascended the throne, and the military and political affairs of the dynasty were controlled by his mother Hu Shi. Emperor Xiaoming served as a puppet emperor for thirteen years, but died in 528.
From the mother and son, we can see the shadows of Cixi and Guangxu. One who holds real power is unwilling to give it to the real ruler; one who is young and has no chance to regain his own power.
Although Emperor Xiaoming cried out for his life, the state apparatus still had to function. At that time, although Empress Dowager Hu was extremely powerful, there were still many potential opposition forces in the DPRK. In order to consolidate her power, Empress Dowager Hu needed to find another puppet emperor.
The first step to changing the status quo is to find a suitable candidate for the emperor.
For Empress Dowager Hu, the first step was extremely difficult. Because, she faced a very real problem, Emperor Xiaoming had no heirs, only a young daughter who was only one year old. This baby girl has no sense of existence in history. Because she was from the Yuan clan, historians called her "Yuan Girl".
Since no heir can inherit the unification, it is advisable to turn the "Yuan Girl" into a male body.
In 528, the day after Emperor Xiaoming's death, Empress Dowager Hu had already made a decision. Empress Dowager Hu made a big joke with the civil and military officials. She took her granddaughter in her arms and had the palace maid put on a special mini dragon robe for the baby girl. In an instant, the little baby girl became the little emperor.
Obviously, this was just a delaying tactic, and Empress Dowager Hu was only looking for the next puppet while consolidating her power. After all, a baby girl who can't speak can't allow herself to exercise power freely. Empress Dowager Hu spent a day finding another replacement for the baby girl, Yuan Zhao.
Although Yuan Zhao had no inheritance rights, he was a descendant of the clan and it was better for him to ascend the throne than to have a foreign surname succeed to the throne. Therefore, on the second day of The Yuan Maiden's ascension to the throne, Empress Dowager Hu changed Yuan Zhao to the new emperor. As for the baby girl emperor, he was naturally deposed by her grandmother. For a time, The Manchu Dynasty Wenwu was stunned by Empress Hu's actions, what exactly was the empress dowager going to do?
However, after all, they are all old fritters in the political field, and it did not take long for the hundred officials to figure out the routine of the empress. What Empress Dowager Hu did was nothing more than to consolidate the power in her hands.
The famous Northern Wei general Erzhu Rong thought more deeply than other colleagues, he analyzed the behavior of the empress dowager, and then boldly speculated: Since in order to consolidate power, the empress dowager can do such a thing as setting up a baby girl as emperor to disgrace the royal family, then what else can she not do? In other words, who can guarantee that the death of Emperor Xiandi was not deliberately done by Empress Dowager Hu? Emperor Xiaoming had reached the age of ruler, but he had inexplicably died, and there must be something wrong with this!
Erzhu Rong not only raised his own doubts, he also challenged Empress Hu with practical actions.
Under the guise of "the empress dowager cheating and concealing the inferiority", Erzhu Rong held high the banner of righteousness and met with Empress Dowager Hu.' Of course, in order to make his division famous, Erzhu Rong supported Yuan Ziyou as emperor and formed a new Northern Wei court.
Erzhu Rong's behavior has obviously transgressed the category of being a human subject. The reason why he found various reasons for himself to raise troops was for the reputation of future generations. After all, there must always be a grand reason for a coup d'état. In this case, the usual slogan of "Qing Jun's side" did not apply, so it was necessary for Erzhu Rong to use the loss of credibility of the imperial court as an excuse and establish a new monarch. In fact, his ultimate goal was the same as That of Empress Dowager Hu, but he only wanted to hold on to power.
In less than a month, Erzhu Rong's men and horses attacked Luoyang. Erzhu Rong broke into the palace, took out Yuan Zhao, who had only been on the throne for half a month, and Empress Hu behind the scenes, and threw them into the Yellow River and drowned. In order to suppress the opponents, Erzhu Rong also killed thousands of liwei.
What happened to the infant emperor who was used by Empress Dowager Hu to count?
Historical sources say his whereabouts are unknown.
Combined with the background at that time, the tragic fate of this little girl seemed to be doomed, but the historian could not bear to record it in the history books.
The story of the "youngest female emperor in history" ended in this way, and in the historical data, her existence was not even valued by later historians, and she was not counted in the writing of the biography of the ancient and modern emperors. The author believes that although her throne has a certain deceptive nature, objectively speaking, she did obtain the name of emperor, and she was also another female emperor besides Wu Zetian.
Resources:
【History of the North" and "Book of Northern Qi"】